Thursday, August 24, 2017

#amwriting #Tirgearr author Enhance your story with the perfect #setting

How does the setting influence your characters and plot?

Please allow me to share my thoughts. In commercial fiction, your reader wants to experience
adventure, be entertained, get lost in a different place. The reader imagines being the lead character
having exploits, and visiting a setting other than his or her daily life,
perhaps in a new country or city or world. Your reader wants character, plot,
and a setting realistic enough to connect.

Have you noticed that fiction is divided into two camps? Authors write a synopsis based on either
character or plot, but everyone agrees characters do things, overcome
adversities, and make decisions. All agree that stories must take place somewhere,
the setting. Character, plot, and setting are the big three. The setting
affects mood, event possibilities, and even character temperament. With various
genres we know a reader leans toward certain places and time periods.

I write contemporary romantic suspense. Heroes are ex-military
but heroines can be plucky, girl-next-door amateur sleuths. Both have
obstacles, and what they do changes their lives. That’s the character first
part-- motivation and conflict, insight, goals, and desires. Readers enjoy characters’
thoughts and dilemmas. A deep knowledge of character provides the connection.

What about readers who crave action scenes such as romantic
suspense? There are more opportunities for decision making in a plot-driven
story, but the plot is not what drives the story, it is the characters and what
they believe in. Plot events are secondary to the character’s thoughts, emotions,
and growth. Events drive that growth. Be sure your characters are likable so
that your reader cares.

A setting is where and when your story takes place. Scene locations such
as an office, bedroom, bar, cave, or forest are described along with
countries or planets era or age, and time of day. In my Donahue Cousins series,
the setting and new characters produces a new story, but there are similar
threads. The antagonists are connected to the Irish mob. In Deadly Alliance terrorists take over the
existing mob. In Unholy Alliance the
heroine searches for her cousin whom she believes was kidnapped by an Irish
mobster. In my work-in-progress Bittersweet Alliance, the cousin, a lost
sheep who did not want to be found, is a villain. Your setting influences character type, word choice, pace, tone, even genre. Setting enhances story by enfolding
plot and character in a place where they fit, where their strengths can best be
highlighted. My heroine in Bittersweet
Alliance is Hawaiian and has insider information about the Big Island where
serial kidnappings are taking place. This setting helps Jolene Kualoha and
events shine, giving her a backdrop where she moves deftly within the society.
Jolene sees clues that hold story elements together. This is a reunion story.
Jolene and Danker Donahue were dating in UnholyAlliance, but it ended is a mess with him named as a father in his prior
relationship. She pushed him out so that
he could be a dad and family guy with his ex-girlfriend.

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About Me

I do my best to blend fast-paced action with personal struggles and tender romance. Romantic suspense is my genre, and I write for Tirgearr Publishing in Ireland. Deadly Alliance has a release date of February 2016. I'm writing the sequel, Alliance of Liars.